Head for golf clubs



Oct. 26, 1948. v N. s. CAMPBELL HEAD FOR GOLF CLUBS INVENTOR fife/$012 61 fa m shad ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 26, 1948 UNITED STATES FlC This invention relates to a head for a golf club, more particularly to the method for forming the head on a golf club.

It has been the custom from the earliest days of the game to make certain golf clubs with wooden heads. All clubs were so made for a long time but they were not suitable for some shots and were easily damaged if used to play a ball from a stony lie.

To meet this difficulty, iron heads were developed for the shorter clubs, but clubs used for the longer shots, which means off the tee ground or from good lies, are still made with wooden heads. These clubs used to be called drivers, brassies and spoons. Now they are usually designated by numbers 1, 2, 3, etc.

Great improvements have been made in designing, making and finishing these clubs and many of them are works of art to an experienced golfer, but there are definite disadvantages in making these heads of wood.

The good ones are beautifully made. They are well attached to the shafts, the soles are nearly always protected by a shoe of metal attached to the sole with screws, the faces are given durability and greater uniformity by inserts of plastics, also held in place by screws. They are beautifully finished and after they are made they are now usually very carefully matched in weight to a standard, or related to others of a matched set, by the alteration of lead set into the sole, usually under the metal shoe.

Under this method many fine clubs are produced, but it requires many different operations by skillful, high priced men and necessarily makes the clubs very expensive.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a better golf club and a golf club at lower cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide a non-metallic golf club head which will be more durable and will have no parts which may work loose Another object of this invention is to provide a non-metallic golf club head formed of a material which is tougher and harder than the usual wooden heads which are provided on golf clubs.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf club head which may be of predetermined standard shape and weight and which may be duplicated exactly in another club.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf club head by a process sufficiently simple so that it may be made by any well-equipped manufacturer.

5 Claims. (Cl. 273-77) 2 Another object of this invention is to provide a non-metallic golf club head which will need no metallic shoe on the sole of the club to protect it. Another object of this invention is to provide a molded golf club head which may be directly )molded onto the end of the shaft, such for instance as by molding the head from one of the plastics such as nylon. Nylon is a synthetic plastic more fully set forth in Patent 2,130,948 dated September 20, 1938, and referred to therein as polyamide obtained by condensation polymerization from diamine and dibasic carboxylic acid.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf club head which may be made in any selected color which is desired.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a golf club formed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through a mold illustrating the golf club head as located in the mold and with the shaft extending into the golf club head.

In proceeding with this invention, the maker must first adopt the model for the head to be and controlled that the maker knows the weight of the shaft he decides to use. The weight of the grip to be applied can be known exactly if the grip is made in' accordance with the process covered by my current application for a patent on plastic grips, Ser. No. 606,548.

The weight of the shaft and grip being known, it is an easy matter to determine what the weight of the head must be to produce the desired weight and balance in the finished club.

' It is easy to determine what the plastic to be used will weigh when molded to the particular head model to be made. The difference between this weight and the desired head weight shows the amount of weighting, preferably lead, which should be added to make the required finished weight. All this can be determined very exactly. A mold which will exactly produce the head is then made. A chosen shaft is inserted in the mold, together with weighting as required, and the chosen plastic is then molded about the shaft.

With reference to the drawings, I designates a golf club shaft which has been provided with a grip 9 and which grip may be formed in accordance with my application, Ser. No. 606,548. The tubular shaft 10 is of steel and is provided with a locking pin II which is inserted laterally across the end of the shaft as shown in Fig. 2. A weight, designated generally I2, is supported from the lower end of the shaft It by a pin IS. A suitable plug 14 is inserted in the end of the shaft so'that. 10 the molding "material will'not enter the hollow shaft ID.

A two-part mold I is provided which will be shaped as at IE to provide a cavity whichwill'be the exact shape and size of the head which it 'is 1 desired should be formed. The shaft is inf-i serted in this mold, the two parts of which are then looked together through the" openings 11;" Vent openings 18 are provided adjacent oneifendz-i of the mold and a gate I9 is provided adjacent 20 theaotherrendior insertion of-iplasticmaterial 20 into'thamold. When all the parts are in place, the plastic material is inserted. so 'as-to -fill all :the cavities-.-i-n-the mold and thus providethe golf clubhead designatedagenerallyzfl.in the mold. As in some cases-it is impractical to mold material 22 ofthe shank-into'the narrowspace-where the shaft-enters the mold, 'a preforming of the plastic material *about this :portion ofthelshaftfbefore. insertion into-the mold is often desirable. How- 3U everythis material may be added after molding if desired.

After-the material 20'has been-molded into the shape of the head 2| about theendof the shaft 10, its locking pin H, the weighting means 12 and its support l3, themold is separated and'the golfclub shaft with-its head attachedthereto-is removed-from'the mold.

Many :plastics'are so. constituted that they are usable in a mold cf-.-this--character, an example of Which-is nylon. Thisis sufficiently tough to be found entirely desirable for purposes which are. here "illustrated- Eventhough this plastic-is molded as a solid mass, it hasa desired resiliency anddmpa-ct strength.

It will be readily apparent that, after one has-W selected the-type of head which he desires, with the exactshapeand. weight thereof,-the -manufacturerwill choose-the type of plastic, make the mold in'the desired shape of head, -and:then cause-50....

thelplasticwto be-molded about the end of the shaft. Whether this-molding be-by pour casting compression molding, injection molding or some other-form of molding, would depend up on the material which was chosen. The exact choiceof -5 4 instances the club head would be so shaped so as to receive this facing plate when the same is molded. It is also practical to weight the club head by inserting weights by boring into the material after the same is formed, but in most cases I prefer to mold the weighting material into the club head as herein illustrated, as this saves operations and also more firmly locks the weight in place. It will of course be readily apparent that any markings such'as manufacturers name and model numbers maybe molded into the golf club head as the same is formed by merely marking the counterpart of such markings in the mold.

After the molding, which is done ina few secends, the only work required is surface finishing, whichis also quickly done. Excess material from the gateand vents is trimmed off and the surface polished as, for example, with a buffer. Nothing else is necessary unless the manufacturer wishes to rub whitening into any markings he has molded into-the=surface.

I claim:

1. A golf club having a head with a shank eX-. tending therefrom, said shank having .a bore therein continuing into said head and straight. for-its entire depth, a shaft straight forits entire length extendinginto said bore, a pin of a less diameter than saidshaft .havingan end portion thereof secured in said shaft andextending .in a

,straight line from said shaft: and at an angle thereto,-a balancingmember carried by saidpin, said head-being one homogeneousmass of molded material completely enveloping said member,-pin--. and the portion'of the .shaft extending into said head.

2. A golf club as set forth in claim :1 wherein Y said-pin extends through said shaft toproject therefrom oneither side thereof;-

3. 'A golf club as set forth in claim 1 wherein 1 anadditional pin within said head extends through said shaft and projectsto-n -either-side thereof..-

4. A golf clubuas 'set forth in claimxl whereinsaid-shaft-is hollow and a plug is inserted in the end of the shaft within said head.-

5..A.golf= club as 'set forth-in claim 1 wherein said shaft is hollow and a plug is inserted in the end ofthe shaft within said headand saidpin. extends through said plug.-

NELSON S. CAIWPBELL.

REFERENCES orrnn UNITED "STATES PATENTS- Number-w Name" Date 1,139,341 Cigol -:May 11, 1915 1,435,526 Johnston et al Nov. 14, 1922' .1

1,515,381- Boyer'etal; Nov. 11,- 1924 1,86%,103 Schavoil"; July 1:12; 1932- r 2,346,617: Schafl'er Apr: 11, "1944 FOREIGN PATENTS .Number Country Date- I Australia May. .16; 1932s-' 

